Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to sell up to 50 million shares of Amazon stock over the next year, according to a regulatory filing posted on Friday.
Those shares would be worth nearly $8.6 billion at the stock’s current price.
Bezos’ planned stock sale was included in Amazon’s annual report published on Friday due to a Securities and Exchange Commission rule requiring such disclosures. The news also comes a day after the company reported a record holiday shopping quarter, sending shares for Amazon climbing by some 8% on Friday.
Bezos, 60, stepped down as CEO of the company he founded in 2021, but he still serves as chair of the board at Amazon. Since stepping away from his daily duties at the helm of the e-commerce leader, Bezos has made headlines mostly for his colorful fashion choices, relationship with fiancé Lauren Sanchez and space-faring ambitions via his private company Blue Origin.
The annual report said that Bezos adopted a trading plan to sell up to 50 million shares of Amazon stock over a period ending on January 31, 2025, subject to certain conditions.
It would appear now is a good time for Bezos to sell. Amazon shares tumbled in 2022 amid a whiplash in pandemic-induced demand for e-commerce and broader macroeconomic uncertainty. Current CEO Andy Jassy has since embarked on aggressive cost-cutting measures, including multiple rounds of mass layoffs that have put tens of thousands of workers out of jobs. Some of the layoffs have continued into this year.
But Amazon’s stock has since rallied sharply, climbing roughly 90% since falling to $84 a share in December 2022.
Moreover, Bezos’ recent move to Florida from Washington state would mean he could avoid state capital gains taxes on the stock sale. Florida currently does not have a capital gains tax. Bezos’ home state of Washington upheld a capital gains tax measure last year, according to the Seattle Times.
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